Portable mortiser



Aug. 7,1923. 1,463,308

J. H. FRENCH ET A11 PORTABLE. MORTISEH I Filed Jlly 17, 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I \QN w \w m 1 Aug. 7, 1923.

1,463,808 J. H. FRENCH ET AL PORTABLE MORT I S ER Filed July 17, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. '7, 1923.

uuirno s'ra'rxes Parent 'GFFEQE.-.

JAMES HARVEY FRENCH, EDWIN JAMES FRENCH, AND WILLIAM BERNARD OF DEFIANCE, OHIO, ASSIG-NOBS OF GEE-HALF TO SAID EDWIN JAI /IES FRENCH,

ONE-FOURTH TO SAID WILLIAM BERNARD FREI TCH, AND ONE-FOURTH TO SAID.

JAMES HARVEY FRENCH.

PORTABLE MORTISER.

Application filed July 17, 1922. Serial No. 575,685.

To all whom-alt may concern Be it known that we, JAMES l-lAnvnor FRENCH, EDWIN .lAiitnsFnENorI, and VIL- LIAM. Brenna) FRnNoi-t, citizens of the United States, residing at Defiance, in the county of Defiance and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lortablei lvlort'isers. of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to a portable hand inortising machine and it has for its object to provid a highly etlicient device of this character adapted to be secured to the edge of a door that is in place and which will serve to rapidly and neatly mortise the front ezjlge of the door for the reception of a look.

It is a further object of the invention to rovide a machine of the character indicated which may be accurately controlled both as to the length and depth of the cut. Another object o the invention is to provide a machine oi the character described arranged in such manner that the strain will be imparted to the rear edge of the door whereby all possibility of splitting the front stile of the door will be eliminated.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be moreparticularly set forth in the detailed description which follows.

in the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a left side elevation of a machine constructed in accordance with the invention showing the same mounted in operative posi tion upon a door;

Fig. 2. is a. horizontal sectional view upon line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fi 3 is a fragmentary horizontal. sectional view upon line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fin. 4 a right side elevation of the machine;

Fig. 5 a longitudinal vertical sectional view therethrourgh; Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view across the slide bar; and Fig. 7 is a. detail plan view of a modified form of clamp hereinafter described.

Like munerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawings.

In the drawings 5 designates the front stile, 6 one of the rails and 7- the rear stile of a door to be mortised.

The machine of the present invention comprises a saddle block 8 and a. carriage 9 mounted for vertical stepby step movement upon the saddle block as hereinafter set forth. A clamping mechanism at the upper end of the saddle block comprises a pair of arms 10 which are pivoted to the saddle block at 11 and are moved forcibly toward and from each other by rotation of a right and left screw 12 having an operating thumb piece 13 upon one end thereof. The

screw 12 engages in round nuts 13 which are seated in recesses 14 of the arms 10 and are held in place by plates 15. The arms 10 are preferably rubber tipped, as indicated at 16 and in the initial application of the machine to a door, the operator grasps a handle 17 which is mounted upon the top of the carriage 9 and places the machine in position with the arms 10 embracing the front edge of thedoor and lying upon opposite sides of the stile 5. At the same time the cutter or chisel 18 is entered in an open-.

threaded hooks 21 and thumb nuts 22 upon.

said threaded hooks. Only one chain and hook are shown in Fig. l but it is to be understood that this structure is duplicated upon the opposite side of the door. I

he rear portions of the chains are enaged with the hooked ends 23 ofa U shaped yoke 24l the intermediate portion of which pivoted at 25 upon a saddle plate 26. This saddle plate is adapted to extend across Cir preceding cut was made.

the rear or hinged edge of the door and to be temporarily secured in place by a nail 27 which is passed through an opening formed in said saddle plate and driven a short distance into the rear stile 7 of the door. It is to be noted that the chain 20 is inclined slightly downward from the rear edge of the door to the front edge thereof and by tightening the thumb nuts the machine as a whole may be very securely bound against the front edge of the door beyond the possibility of any downward slipping of the same. The machine having been set for depth and length of cut, as hereinafter. set forth, the operator then imparts a swinging movement to the operating handle 28 which is mountedupon a transverse shaft 29 and carries a segmental gear 30. This gear meshes with a rack 31 formed upon the upper face of a slide bar 82 within which the cutter 18 is adjustably mounted. It will readily be understood that a swinging movement of the handle 28 will impart longitudinal reciprocation to the slide bar 32 to force the cutter 18 into the door and to withdraw the cutter from the door. The movement (if the'cutter out of the mortise in the door is limited by a stop screw 33, the tip end 33 of which is disposed in a groove 32 milled in the underside of the slide bar 32.

Au adjusting screw 84: has threaded engage ment with the shank portion of the cutter 18 and this screw is held against endwise movement by a collar 36 which lies between the rear end of the slide bar 32 and a block 37 carried upon the rear end of said. slide bar.. It is manifest that turning movement of the screw 34; will adjust the cutter 18 longitudinally of the slide bar. This renders it possible to compensate for variations in the length of the cutter due to the shortening of the same by sharpening.

The swinging movement of the handle 28 not only serves to impart a back and forth movement to the cutter 18 but it imparts a step by step feeding movement to the carriage 9 by which the cutter is carried so that at each. stroke of the cutter the cut made will beat a. little higher point, usually about oneeighth inch, above the point at which the This is accomplished by providing upon a cover plate 9 of the carriage 9 a. feed mechanism consisting of a plunger 38 which is mounted to slide through a guide plate 39. This plunger is periodically engaged by a pin 40 upon the collar 39 and when this plunger is forced inwardly it rocks a bell crank lever 41 upon its pivot 42; A dog 43 is pivotally mounted at 44 upon the bell crank lever 41, said dog moving into engagement with the teeth 45 of a rack bar ifiupon initial downward move ment of said dog. Thereafter movement of the bell crank lever d1 acts to lift the carriage, 9 bodily, though by this time the cutter 18 has been withdrawn from the mortise in the door. The carria e 9 is held at the point to which it is lifted Toy a pawl 17 which J's-pivoted at 18 and is provided with a thumb piece 49. A spring acts to move the pawl into engagement with the teeth of the rack 46. A spring 51 acts against the bell crank lever 1-1 and tends to move the plunger 38 to the right in Fig. 1, when the handle 28 is pulled rearwardly on its cuttin stroke and the pin 40 moves away from plunger 38. The result of this is to lift the dog 43 preparatory to said dog taking a fresh hold on the teeth of rack 46 but at this time the dog 43 engages a pin 52 carried by the cover plate 9 which pin acts to hold the dog out of engagement with the teeth of the rack bar until, upon initial downward movement of the bell crank lever the said dog is bodily lowered far enough to permit its engaging end to move inwardly beneath the pin and into engagement with the teeth of the rack. The purpose of thisv construction is to facilitate the lowering of the carriage after the operation of forming one mortise has been completed and it is desired to reset the machine preparatory to cutting another mor tise. hen this is to be done the operator supports the weight of the carriage by grasping the handle 17 and presses against the thumb piece 49 against the tension of spring 50 to disengage the pawl 47 from the rack bar. Since at this time the dog 43 is held out of engagement with the rack bar by the pin, it follows that there is nothing to prevent bodily downward movement of the carriage in the ways of the saddle block 8, said carriage being provided with a dovetail rib 54, see Fig. 2, which is slidably disposed .in said ways. A stop plate 55 limits downward movement of the dove tail rib 54. A keeper lug 56 formed upon the stop plate 55 is adapted to be engaged by the lower end of a latch lever 57 which is pivoted at 58 upon the cover plate 9. The function of the latch lever 57 is to lock the carriage at its lower limit of movement. If this latch. were not provided the carriage would ride to the upper end of the ways 53 whenever the user tried to lift the machine by grasping the handle 17. At this time the latch 57 acts to lift the saddle block with the carriage and to maintain all of the parts in set position during the time that the machine is being applied to a door. However, upon initial downward movement of the bell crank lever 41, a roller 59 upon the inner side of the lower arm of said bell crank lever rides over the beveled upper end 60 of the lever 57 and moves said lever against the tension of a spring 61 to disengage its lower end from the keeper lug 56. Before the lever 57 again returns to its initial position under the in fluence of siring G1 the carriage will have been lifted one notch and thus the hooked naeaeoa position when not in use laterally projecting.

feet (52 are provided upon the saddle block, see Fig. 2, and these feet are provided with rubber tips 63 which in conjunction with a corresponding rubber tip 64 carried by the head of the screw 33, constitute feet for the machine.

To adjustably limit the movement of the cutter 18 into the door and to consequently determine the depth of the mortise being out, we provide upon the right hand side iofthe carriagcll), see Fig. 4:, a swinging collar 65 which carries a stop 66 for the handle 28 and a slotted segment 67. The slotted segment is adapted to be bound in varying positions of adjustment by a clamping screw 68 having a l1andle'69, in a man ner well known in this art. It is manifest athat adjustment of the collar 65 will position the stop,66 to stopthe handle 28 in its downward movement, at any desired point and that this will, in turn, limit the inward movement of the slide bar .32 and cutter 18. The operator may setthe cutter to the desired depth by adjusting the handle 28 to such position. as will bring the proper graduation of the series of graduations 70 upon the slide bar 32 in alignment with the rear edge of the carriage 9. If, for example, it be desired to make a mortisethree inches in depth, the graduation 3 will be brought into alignment with the rear edge of the :arriage 9 and this will indicate to the operator that the cutter will then be projected three inches into the door when the handle is moved to itslimit of movement outwardly and downwardly. After'having brought the handle 28 to the position to set the graduation 3 in alignment withthe rear edge of the carriage 9, the operator will loosen the clamp screw 68 and the weight of the segment 67 will cause the stop 66 to move around to the position then occupied by the handle 28 andto abut said handle. The clamping screw '68 will then again be tight .ened and thereafter, the handle 28 will be limited upon each stroke to a return to the position that it occupied at the timeof the setting of the cutter. i

The length of the mortise to be cut is determined by the setting of a slidable gauge 7i, see Figs. 1 and '2, along the rack bar 4L6. This rack bar is provided with graduations with which said gauge'coacts, said graduations being indicated at 72, and when the gauge has been set atthe graduation marked, say &,an apron 73 constituting a part of the guagewill have been moved to such positio'n-as to cover those teeth of the rack 46 above the pointat which the pawl 47 will be located when a 'cut of that length has been completed. other words, when the out shown.

.of the desired length has been completed and the pawl 47 has reached the lower edge of the apron 7 3 it can no longer engage the teeth of the rack bar because said teeth are the handle 28. be manipulated further, the carr age will not. travel any further upwardlv and no additionalcuttin willtake place. r-icbinding screw 74 provides means for binding the guage 71 in the position to. which it is adjusted. By referring to Fig.

it willbe seen that the cutter 18 is semicircular at its upper portion but is provided along its lower edges with a flat vertical portion 18. This flat vertical portion over laps the juncture between the pieces being cut at each stroke of the cutter 18 and serves to plane the surface, leaving it perfectly smooth. i i

It is well known fact that cutters or chisels .of the character indicated are not likely to break or to become chipped ifthe thrust upon them is a direct, straightline, thrust but that they are very likely tobecome broken ifthere is the slightest twist- .ing. action imparted to them. To guard against looseness of the slide bar 32 in its ways and to insure that thethrust of this slide bar will always be a direct,straight, line thrust upon the cutting tool, we mount a friction strip or gib 75 inla groove 76 formed in the inner face of the cover plate 9 Adjusting screws 77 accessible from the exterior face of the cover plate, see Figs. 1 and (S are-provided withlocknuts 78 and with slotted heads 79. These screws are threaded into the cover plate 9 and they are mounted to turn with respect to the friction strip or gib 76. It. is manifest that by screwing inwardly upon the screws 77 the strip 7 6 may be caused to frictionally bind against the slide bar 32 and to prevent any looseness whatever of said bar. This structure additionally has the'advantage of placing such friction upon the bar 32 as to cause the handle 28 to remain in any position to which it may be moved, instead of dropping downwardly with a bang every time it is released for a moment.

Referring to Fig. 5 it will be seen that an angular portion 18 is formed upon the cutting tool betweenthe shank 35 and the cutting portion of thetool. This angular portion '18 engages in a correspondingly shaped. portion39. of the slide bar 32 and thus the cutting tool is positively held against, any tendency to turn with respect to the slidebar.

In Fig. 7' we have illustrated a modified form of clamp which maybe used at the top of the saddle block in lieu of the clamp This clamp comprises arms 10 pivoted at li and engaged by the right and left threaded portions of screw 12. The screw is held against endwise movement by covered by the apron and thus, .eyen .thoughm' 'a collar 12* thereon engaging a fork or spaced lugs 12. The screw is engaged with round nuts 13 which engage the arms 10 in the manner hereinbefore set forth.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a machine adapted to serve the purposes set forth has been provided, comprising elements which are of simple and economical construction, powerful and reliable in operationand capable of manipulation with the expenditure of minimum time and labor upon the part of the operator. I i

It is to be understood that the illustration in the accompanying drawings is for purposes of explanation of the principles involved, only andthat the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth but that it includes within its purview what ever changes fairly come within either the terms or the spirit of the appended claims. 1 Having described our invention What we claim is:

1. The combination with a door mortising machine adapted to fit fiat against the front edge of a'door, of a saddle plate adapted to rest flat against the rear edge of the door, a pivoted U shaped yoke carried by the saddle plate and having hooked termi nal ends, chains engageable with said hooked terminal ends and means for engaging the other ends of the chains with the door mortising machine and for exerting a drawing action thereon.

2. A machine of the character described comprising a vertical saddle block adapted to rest against the front edge of adoor, a carriage in theform of a rectangular block having a cOVer plate on one side and having slidable engagement with the saddle block at its front end, a rack bar carried by the saddle block, a toothed mechanism supported upon the cover plate of thecarriage and acting upon said rack bar to impart a vertical step by step movement to the carriage with respect to the saddle block and feet formed complementally upon the bottom of the saddle block and upon the carriage for supporting the machine in an upright position when not in use.

:3. A machine of'the character described comprising a vertical saddle block adapted to rest against the front edge of a door, a carriage in the form of a rectangular block having slidable-engagement with the saddle block at its front end, means for secur ing the saddle block to the door, arack bar carried by the saddle block, a toothed mechani'sm supported upon the cover plate of the carriage and acting upon said rack bar to impart a vertical step by step movement to the carriage with respect to the saddle block, a shaft disposed transversely in the carriage, a. gear housed in the carriage, a

handle uponthe shaft outside of the carriage and swinging in a vertical plane, said gear being mounted upon said shaft, a slide bar mounted for reciprocation in the carriage and toothed for engagement by said gear and a cutter projecting from the for ward end of the slide bar and through the saddle block, said saddle block being vertically slotted to permit of reciprocation of the cutter and vertical movement of the carriage and cutter in the formation of a vertical mortise in the front edge of a door.

4:- A device of the character described comprising a vertically slotted saddle block, means for securing the same to the front edge ofa door, a vertically traveling block having lidable engagement with the saddle block and lying in the plane of the door to be mortised, said block having a hollow interior constituting a housing, a pinion housed in said block,a shaft by which said pinion is carried and which shaft projects laterally through the block, a handle upon the outer end of said shaft mounted to swing in a vertical lane, a slidable rack bar mounted in said block and engaged with said gear, a cutter carried" by said rack bar and projecting through the slotted portion of the saddle block, means for securing said saddle block to the front edge of a door to be mortised and with said saddle block lying in the plane of said door, said cutter being laterally centered with respect to the saddle block and vertically traveling block, a handle upon the top of the vertically traveling block, means for imparting a step by step vertical movement to the vertically traveling block along the saddle block, locking means for locking'the vertically traveling block to the saddle block when the'former is at its lower limit of movement and means for releasing said locking means upon initial movement of said handle.

5. A device of the character described comprising a vertically slotted saddle block, means for securing said saddle block to the front edge of a door, said saddle block having a dove-tail channel formed in its outer face, a block having a rib seated in said channel to 'slidably mount the block with respect to the saddle block, said block constituting avertically movable carriage and said block having an interior cavity consti tuting a housing, a toothed gear in said housing, a rack bar slidable' through the lower portion of the block, a cutter longitu dinally adjustable with respect to the rack bar, a shaft by which the gear is carried,'a handle upon the outer end of said shaft, said handle swinging in a. verticalplane, a cover plate for the said cavity, mechanism car riedby the cover plate and having operative engagement with saidhandle for imparting a vertical stepby step movement to the saddle block and a stop carried by the said block adjustable to varying positions for limiting the movement of the handle and consequently for limiting the throw of the rack bar.

6. A structure as recited in claim 5 wherein the means for imparting a vertical step by step movement to the block includes a graduated rack bar, operating pawls engaging the same and means adjustable along the rack bar for throwing said pawls out of action when said pavvls reach the po- 10 sition determined by the adjustment of said means.

In testimony whereof We hereunto aflix our signatures.

JAMES HARVEY FRENCH. EDWIN JAMES FRENCH. WILLIAM BERNARD EEENoH. 

